She reached the camp when the night was almost over. The first morning lights start to slice through the dark. The camp was located in the ruined city from before, now with two whole packs of warlords, the place was beating with life again. Worker teams made of wolfkin males, a few warriors, and locals were busy fixing the buildings. The engineers who accompanied the warlords nearly restored light in the city, though there were occasional explosions of energy accompanied by normies' curses among engineers, who despised outdated and half-broken local infrastructure. The shamans were busy sending dead warriors on their last path. Injured people from the convoy were treated in the Free World hospital, meanwhile guards sent Aranea to a newly built hospital nearby. The warlords brought their own doctors with them. The majority of them were now outside, assisting at the Free World hospital, but a few remained inside. To Aranea’s surprise, she was greeted by the doctor from Free World.
"To the left room," The doctor pointed at the room, "I will call your people, they seem to hate it when I treat your kind without them."
"Why are you here?" Aranea asked, placing Sonya on the large bed.
"Why not?" The doctor shrugged, "Apparently war is coming, if I am with front line troops, I will have an opportunity to treat more people. And as that old guy said, I will stay alive for longer," He smiled, extending his hand, shaking Aranea's paw, "Name’s Marco. I and a few of my fellows will be among you for a while. Find us, if you need help." He disappeared, leaving to find doctors of the Wolf Tribe.
"Damn it," Sonya moaned, waking up. She tried to stand up but fell back onto the bed. Aranea could see how the white sheet underneath her slowly turned red, "You… you are Aranea, am I right? Cubs sure grow up fast these days." The former wolf hag mumbled something in astonishment, looking at Aranea.
"Try not to make any rash moves. I broke your arm and leg. And probably cracked your skull." Aranea said, placing a paw on the chest of Sonya.
"Not hard enough, apparently, since I am still in this world," Sonya whispered, looking at Aranea, one of her eyes was red with blood, "What the hell... wolf hag," she had to force herself to say. "You could feel it, you should have offered my life to our blessed mother..."
"There was no one divine out there. No gods, just fellow humans. And I don’t kill humans for fun. I changed this tradition, at least for myself," Aranea said, avoiding the explanation of the night's events, "Heal up. There will be some changes in my pack, but this will wait."
"Tent it is for me then." Sonya said with anger and hatred that her head fell on a pillow as she closed her eyes.
"Don’t count on it yet. That too is something that I intend to change," Aranea lightly slammed her palm across the good shoulder of Sonya and left as three doctors came inside.
She heard curses about "barbarians and their traditions" as people started their work to nurture Sonya back to health. The warlords and shamans ordered the Wolf Tribe to ignore any remarks about the way of life of the Wolf Tribe from doctors of normies, and their allies used it fully to constantly berate wounded members, mocking traditions in full. Aranea actually liked them because of this, it was good for someone who openly hated stupid duels for domination. But most members of the Tribe hated them. Not because of mocking, no. Being locked in a hospital was the worst thing for any wolfkin.
The wolf hag asked the nurse for some spare clothes, and the man pointed her toward a nearby room. Once she finished dressing herself, Aranea met Kostya in the corridor as she exited the room. The wolfkin was returning after checkups. He still had a few bruises and scratches on him, and some parts of his body were in bandages, yet he was mostly unharmed and received permission to return to duty tomorrow.
"Aranea? This is you, right?" Kostya smiled after a minute, having trouble recognizing her, bowing and baring his neck, "No, it is wolf hag now, right? Congratulations. "Does this mean Sonya?" He asked with concern.
"She is alive. Angry and bitter but willing to return to the field in a couple of months," Kostya raised his brows in surprise, but did not ask further. He moved to pass by, but Aranea grabbed him by the shoulder and said, "I think you owe me an explanation." What the hell, Kostya? In my pack, we do not throw our lives away. Why were you so intending to be in the front line?"
"I…" Kostya licked his lips, "The shamans sent their word to me some time ago. They expect me in a tent in a couple of months. I am scared," He finally forced himself to say, "To die in combat is one thing. Giving your life for your friends is something to look for… But being butchered is…" He clenched his fists and said, "I don’t want to go to the tent."
"You won’t. Kostya, you till an able soldier, you can…"
"That’s the problem, I can’t!" He said with despair in his eyes, "You remember this incident with insectoids? I was late to protect Sly. Today I was also slower than usual. Kate is right about me, I am no longer as strong as…"
"Ignore her," Aranea snapped at him, "I will talk with her to keep her in line."
"Why? She speaks the truth and has never hurt me, unlike the others. Spirits, she has saved me more times than I can count! Point is…" He looked at his paws, "I am getting old, we all know it. But just the mere thought of this day, the day when I will have to walk all the way to the tent, knowing that all is over, that inside…" He stopped, breathing hard in fear and horror, "I just want to die a proper death, to give my life for my comrades and not to be s… not like a cusack."
"Listen, we can always talk to the warlord, and Janine will approve you leaving the Wolf Tribe for good," Aranea grabbed his shoulders, "You will not be killed by the shamans, I promise."
"And where will I go?" He looked up into her eyes. "I don’t know about anything aside from fighting, so I won’t be able to work in the Core Lands, they have no need for warriors there. I can’t join Free World, since I am not a medic, I will be a burden to them. Oathtakers? They take away your soul. Pearl? You heard what happened there not long ago. And Iterna… Well, I don’t know them, but they too probably have no use for an old wolfkin like me. It’s the tent or starving in the wastes for me. Both options are scary, so I push myself to…"
"You will not starve, nor will you end up in the tent. Kostya, have I ever lied to you?" He shook his head, and Aranea forced him to look into her eyes, "Trust me, I will figure something out. Calm yourself and live on. Don’t you dare give up now," She waited for him to nod and then pushed ahead. Just one more thing for her to solve. Aranea asked for directions to Kaleb’s whereabouts, and they pointed her to the correct room. She arrived to see how a doctor was injecting something in the back of Kate, while she was sitting on the chair, playing with the beads in her paw. Kaleb was lying on the bed, his broken arm was locked in a steel construction that made weird buzzing noises. He hugged his knees with his good arm and looked at his toes.
"Sister, you mind leaving us alone? This room is full, and this is Sonya’s pack here. We are currently mourning the loss of our leader," Kate muttered without looking at the door. All her attention was on the beads in her paw.
"Don’t talk like this, she might come back yet." Kaleb spoke weakly.
"She would have come back, if she had actually used her power. As of now, the case is clear," Kate responded angrily, "Do you think she would have liked the flowers on her grave? I can buy some, I still have some tokens left."
"Well, you are wrong as usual." Aranea smiled, stomping her leg proudly on the floor. Kate raised her hand and blinked, trying to understand who it was before her. Then she recognized the familiar features and smirked.
"You actually did it, you mad…" She quickly stopped, "I mean, congratulation on your promotion, wolf hag Aranea." Kate almost forced these words out of herself, a small smile on her snout. She tried to stand, but the doctor loudly slapped her across the back of her head. Kate growled but submitted to the silent order and allowed the woman to continue working on her back.
"Wolf hag, I am glad to submit to you." Kaleb tried to look official in the presence of an outsider, but Aranea just laughed.
"How is your arm doing?" She asked, still laughing.
"This idiot did it this time," Kate angrily said, "His arm cracked in more places than I can count, doctors say it will be at least a week before they let him back into action. He's on leave at the warlord's orders and will most likely spend the next week sleeping here like a cub. It's not like you can actually do anything else in this hole. And I will have to do both his and my jobs once again."
"Sorry." Kaleb looked down.
"Oh, don’t you worry right now," "You will be sorry later, when I force you to run the course again and again, until I finally beat it into you to be more careful," Kate said angrily, "You thought that it was hard last time? This time your body will really be hurting, you useless, stupid sack of…" She fell silent as Aranea leaned on her.
How many times has she warned Kate before? Aranea felt her head spitting. She killed several people during the night and still felt nothing. Ravager, rummaging through her head, forcibly releasing her power. Then, her worries about Sonya and Kostya, she needed to find a way to save them from the tent. And now Kate dares to add to the list of her worries? Who does she think she is? Fears, anger, and frustration exploded in Aranea’s mind. Why can nothing work as she wants it to? Why does no one even try to behave like a decent human being for once! She tried and tried to make the scout behave. But once again, Kate dared to threaten Kaleb. Fine then. Aranea decided. It was time to beat the lesson into Kate’s thick skull using the only method that the scout could understand.
"No more." The right paw of Aranea pointed at Kate’s chest, as anger rose in the wolf hag.
A claw shot from Aranea’s paw, and she pressed it to the skin of the scout, right below her right shoulder, "I warned you to behave," The claw pierced the skin of the scout, biting deep. Aranea's mouth drooled against her will as blood flowed from the wound. Her instincts urged her to lunge forward, to bite… Aranea moved her claw to the left side of the scout, feeling her claw scratching across the bones of the scout. Kate was sitting calmly, despite the pain in her chest, only a tick in her left eye indicated that she felt pain. This lack of fear enraged the wolf hag, "You forced my paw. Fine, we'll play by your rules. Rule number one: you will never insult Kaleb again without my permission." She looked for something that might cause the scout to break and noticed that Kate nervously moved the beads in her paw. Aranea grabbed them away from her with her left paw.
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"Aranea, please don’t break them," Kate asked in a weak voice, trying to stand up, despite the claw still being in her skin. Kate’s eyes were looking madly at the beads, she was ready to leap after them. Aranea felt how the scout was slowly standing up, the claw going deeper into her chest. The wolf hag smiled. Finally, they were getting somewhere. Finally, she could sense real fear. The doctor took a step back, pressing buttons on a wall, "Aranea, I beg you, without them I..." Aranea's paw closed, breaking beads into dust, and fear ran in Kate's eyes.
"Rule number two: you will never hurt Kaleb again. Is this understood?" She twisted her claw, tearing through more flesh, as the scout tried to speak, "We are still in the middle of the lesson, so shut up your dirty mouth and listen to the teacher. Is this understood?" Kate gave a quick nod, and Aranea smiled. She felt ecstasy, she felt herself sublime, almost divine, "Rule number three: from now on, you will always speak to me in a respectful tone. I am no longer a scout, I am your master. Now apologize for your behavior, you defective trash." Aranea moved the claw along the line of torn flesh, allowing it to bite a little deeper this time in places where bones allowed it.
"Aranea! This is not actually…" Kaleb tried to stand, his voice filled with fear, but he stopped as Kate threw a glance at him.
"Lay down, you idi… Kaleb." Kate forced herself to say, as the claw of Aranea twisted in her body, increasing the wound and causing the blood to flow, "I am sorry for my behavior, wolf hag." The scout bared her throat. Aranea lowered her jaws to bite the scout. She could sense pain and fear in Kate. These were such pleasant feelings. She had previously attempted to change her through words and actions. No more. Pain will force her to grow up. Aranea's mouth watered as her huge jaws spread wide. This will leave her with a mark she will never forget. Something chuckled in the mind of the wolf hag.
"Wolf hag! Aranea, please, she saved me today! She always saves me!" Kaleb shouted.
You are a disgrace. I can see that punishment is needed. Aranea heard a voice in her head. But we are monsters, we are not like the Ice Fangs. Surely you can see it now, just like I do. I can feel the aggression in you. You gained the strength to move on closer to your dream, yet you have also changed yourself. The wolf hag heard a new voice and almost jumped back, forcing herself to stay in place just by sheer force of will. She quickly took the claw away from Kate’s body, trying not to hurt her anymore. What was she doing right now? She promised herself to lead by example, yet just now she was acting just like Sonya. Aranea felt her paw trembling. What was I doing just now?! What example am I setting?!
"I…" She licked her lips, unsure what to say. She had never gone this far before. Kate was always an asshole and a thorn in her side, but Aranea never used physical violence to punish her before. She wanted to change this rule in the Tribe, not to follow it. Blood was running down from the wound on Kate’s chest. "There will be no further punishment. Kate, how much did these beads cost you? " Aranea wanted to move forward to treat the scout's wounds but stopped, suddenly afraid of the fear in the scout's eyes. She sees me as a monster. She understood. But then, what else could I be called? Mom, dad, what have I done? How am I supposed to fix that?! A panic ran through her thoughts, and Aranea forced herself to look calm, at least, she forcibly clenched her fist to stop trembling, and Kate looked at her in fear, worrying that she would punch her.
"Oh, nothing, nothing at all. They were just a pretty plaything to calm my nerves, that’s all." Kate quickly said, reaching down and grabbing the dust of beads with a trembling paw. Ignoring the wound, the scout looked at the ruined things in her paw with almost despair on her face, yet Kate forced herself to be calm as she stood up. Aranea understood that the scout was afraid of her, truly afraid for the first time. She could smell the odor of fear coming from Kate’s body. This smell made Aranea feel sick. Even when they fought for leadership in the past, Kate never felt fear, she just shrugged off the loss, "I will find some stones to play with, please don’t concern yourself with it, wolf hag…"
"What is going on here?" Marco said in an angry voice, coming inside. He looked at Kate's wound and frowned.
"I overstepped my bonds, insulted a fellow soldier, and paid the price for this," Kate quickly explained, "This was my fault alone. Please, excuse me, I need to visit the shamans as soon as possible."
Marco came to Kate, noticing her trembling paw with the ruins of the beads. The wolfkin almost tried to run, but the doctor stood in her way. Kate let herself be pushed back into the chair as Aranea frowned. Marco nodded to the doctor, and the woman approached, giving Marco instruments. He forced Kate to sit down and began treating her wound.
"And this" minor scratch is what put you in this state of shock?" Marco asked, looking at Aranea with suspicion. "There is constant banter and curses here between your kind, yet no superiors dare come here to punish the wounded. This "minor scratch" is no small thing, the wound goes to the bone. I don’t care what she had done, but you will not abuse patients in the hospital, is this understood, wolf hag Aranea?"
"Please, this was really my fault…" Kate started.
"Crystal clear." Aranea cut her off. The wolf hag felt herself like shit. Never before was she so suddenly angry. What is happening to me? Aranea asked herself and decided that while she can’t fix the past, she will make sure to never snap like this ever again, "I apologize for overstepping my bounds. Scout Kate, I expect you to send me information about the cost of the ruined thing and where I can buy a replacement. " Aranea had never before seen the wolfkin turning pale from a mix of horror and something else, yet there is a first time for everything.
"There is no need to pay for anything, wolf hag." Kate said, almost hysterically, in a strange, high-pitched voice, trying her best to keep her calm, "It’s… this is not something you can buy anyway. This is not something you should know about. Please, this wound is nothing, just a scratch, I need to go to the shamans, I really must go!"
"You will stay here, until this "scratch" is treated and healed," Marco said in a stern voice, "I am also quite curious about the reason behind your fear. I think that you will stay in the hospital for this day."
"No! You don’t understand, I must go! If I don’t get r…" Kate's eyes were crazy with fear and despair, as if she had nearly revealed some dark secret, "Bad things will happen," She finally forced herself to say, "Please, just let me go."
"I will pick them up from the shamans," Kaleb said, standing up. Kate threw a mad look at him, but he simply shrugged, "What? My arm is not going to fall off. Don’t worry, I will lie something to them."
"Idio… Kaleb," Kate forcibly stopped herself, "No. Don’t you dare. You need proper rest and…"
"It will be fine," Kaleb dismissedively said, struggling to put on his pants, "The shamans are nearby, I will be back here in a few minutes."
"Kaleb," Aranea asked, "What is this all about? What are you going to "pick up" exactly?" She noted the almost pleading look on Kate’s face as she looked at Kaleb.
"Nothing. It's just some empty thing. It really is nothing." Kaleb shrugged, clumsily, yet carefully pulling the jacket over his right arm.
"Then I will just walk with you, if this is really that minor thing. Don’t worry, Kate, I will keep him safe." Aranea glanced at the scout one last time and noticed a mix of fear and relief on her snout. Relief probably came because she was leaving. But why fear?
She and Kaleb walked out of the hospital doors. Kaleb was walking a bit slower than usual, his snout became strained when he walked down the stairs from the hospital doors. It was just three stairs, yet pain showed up on his face, and he took quick breaths.
"You probably should go on your way, wolf hag," Kaleb said in a sorry tone, "I am not yet used to walking with this." He nodded at the device on his right arm.
"No, I think I will escort you. You have permission to speak freely, Kaleb. You may use any words you want, I won’t get angry." Aranea said, waiting for him to collect himself.
"Well…" Kaleb took another breath, "I am glad that you came back and all of this. But did you really need to screw up the situation yet again? I just got Kate to speak with me, and now everything's gone to shit."
"Kaleb. You are a good kid. But stop trying to be nice to everyone. Kate has been bullying you since the day you came to my pack. I overstepped myself, true, but don’t say that she had not had it coming in a long time."
"Eh. You only think this way because you are lucky," Kaleb looked at the shocked face of Aranea and continued stubbornly, "I am sorry, but it is true!" He started walking forward along with Aranea, "I know about your family, everyone does! And I am sorry, so sorry that this happened to you. But…" He swallowed, "The worse shit can happen to others." He showed her his good paw, which was tiny in comparison to Aranea's current paw. He was small, even compared to other males, "I don’t really know my parents, the shaman said I was just brought in one day and thrown into the pits. A single male in an entire pack of girls," He laughed, as if trying to force memories away.
"But…" Aranea frowned, "This is an impossible situation. You would never have survived…" Males were suppressed in the Wolf Tribe. While the cubs were still small, they were put in the pits, where they all had to fight among themselves for food. The strongest ate in full and even more, while the weakest only got scraps. Males always received less, as females pushed them around, some of them even died during these trials. A single male, in the pack of females… It was impossible for him to survive as a cub.
"I know, but this is how it happened. All day long trying to get to milk and meat and…" He stopped for a minute before continuing, "There was, however, a girl with me. The shamans named her a cursed child, and the teachers barely cared for her. We were not Branded, this much I know, yet our parents never came to visit us. Other cubs took after the shamans and despised her as well. Yet this girl was the one who always shared food with me. If you could only see her back then, covered in bites from head to toe, bleeding, yet still making me eat. For months, we two only had ourselves to speak freely as the others ignored us… Until Janine saved us from this horror," Kaleb shrugged, "The point is, you had three years of a happy life. You were never truly in the pits. I and many others were. You have no idea just how horrible it was there. Please don’t judge our relationships by your standards."
"What happened was horrible, Kaleb," Aranea responded, clenching her paws. Even now, some cubs are suffering somewhere because of these miserable traditions, "But it was in the past. She has no right to treat you badly now. You have done nothing to suffer for."
"Once again, you judge us," The wolfkin spoke in a tense voice, and Aranea looked at him. Kaleb was never angry, he always tried to solve all conflicts in the pack peacefully. Yet now he was agitated, "Kate made me promise that I would never reveal it… but fuck it," Kaleb stomped his leg on the ground and growled as pain hit his right hand. Aranea wanted to help him, but the wolfkin stubbornly moved on, "She never hurt me badly intentionally, I was the one who asked her for additional training, because I am weak. But because males cannot take initiative, she created these bizarre scenarios to make it appear as if she was the one who initiated the training. Was I hurt during training? Yes, but this was my fault! She explained to me what I did wrong after every mistake, helping me to avoid them and… I just want to do something for her. Just once. When Kate is herself, she is always so angry and bitter with everyone. I want her to loosen up at least once. As you say, the past is over. I want her to move on. So I talk with her each time the chance comes."
"Well, you are about to do something for Kate now, right?" Aranea put both hands behind her head, thinking about this weird situation, "You are about to bring her something, am I right? What is it? What is this thing that she needs so much? I thought that she hated the shamans."
"No. Sorry, Aranea. You can beat me up if you want, but I'm not going to tell you," Kaleb came to a halt, looking her in the eyes, "I swore to Kate to never tell anyone about this, and this one oath I will uphold no matter what."
"I won’t hurt you, Kaleb," Aranea responded softly, and saw doubt in his eyes. She was hurt but forced herself to be calm. She already proved her words false, and time will be needed to remedy this situation, "And I won’t hurt her anymore either, well, challenges aside," The wolf hag smirked, and Kaleb relaxed a little as they both walked forward, "For what it is worth, I am sorry about what I did."